Great War Lives by Paul Reed

First Review – WDYTYA Magazine

sommecourt — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 21:17:14 +0000

The December issue of WDYTYA Magazine contains a very favourable review of the book. The magazine is available in WH Smith and all good newsagents.

The Book is Released

sommecourt — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:01:41 +0000

Copies of the book arrived yesterday on a very apt day – 11th November. Copies of the book which have been pre-ordered are going out now and bookshops will be stocking it next week. Amazon should also have it shortly.

Book now on P&S Website

sommecourt — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 08:55:57 +0000

The book is now listed on the Pen & Sword website:

http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/?product_id=2815

Index Done – next step Publication!

sommecourt — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 21:09:28 +0000

With the index complete the book is now in the hands of the publisher. The next news will be about publication, which should still be October – November. Nearer the time I will also be running competitions to win the book on both Facebook and Twitter. Keep an eye on here and/or the feeds.

Meanwhile work on a revised edition of Walking The Somme has just started. More details here:

http://walkingthesomme.wordpress.com/

New Facebook Group

sommecourt — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:10:14 +0000

I have added a group on Facebook dedicated to the book. It will mirror some of the details here but also enable me to interact with readers in a slightly different way. Please come over and join!

URL for the group is:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Great-War-Lives/133337196693521

Amazon… at last & now the Index

sommecourt — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 22:12:36 +0000

Finally the book has made it on to Amazon, where it can be pre-ordered:

Pre-Order on Amazon

And over the next couple of weeks I will be checking the final proof and working on the index… it’s almost done!

The release date still appears to be October – November 2010.

Taking Last Photographs

sommecourt — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:45:16 +0000

Was out in Canterbury today taking the last photographs I need for the book. In splendid weather on the hottest day of the year so far, I was back in St Martin’s Churchyard visiting the grave of Vernon Austin. He died as a gunner officer in France in 1915, and his father had his body brought home for burial in the place he loved the most – Canterbury. His full story will be told in the book.

Final Tweaking

sommecourt — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 11:11:14 +0000

As April moves towards May, I am working on the final aspects of the book as it goes through the edit. Currently gathering together all the photographs. More details about publication date when I have it.

First Draft Finished

sommecourt — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:17:39 +0000

Today marked the end of the first draft of the book with a chapter on war poet Ivor Gurney. All twelve chapters are now complete, and revisions will be made over the next few days prior to the final draft going off to Pen & Sword. The book remains on schedule, so hopefully a publication date of October still stands.

It has certainly been a fascinating project to work on, and the first book I have written where live updates have been posted here in a blog, and elsewhere online at Facebook and Twitter, reflecting well the role of new media in the life of an historian and writer.

The next project is a complete revision of Walking The Somme but more on that elsewhere, and more on some final details of Great War Lives to follow here.

Provisional Book Jacket

sommecourt — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:30:31 +0000

The book now has a provisional dust jacket, designed by the excellent team at Pen & Sword. It features photographs of some of those who will feature in the book.

Work has been progressing well in the last couple of weeks, with eleven chapters now complete in their first draft.